


The Story of Albertane

by eastfarthing



Category: Hanson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-25
Updated: 2011-07-25
Packaged: 2017-10-21 18:03:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/228053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eastfarthing/pseuds/eastfarthing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zac Hanson falls asleep and dreams of a strange place called Albertane. Only, when he wakes up, he can't be sure it was only a dream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Story of Albertane

Zac sat on the side of the road wishing his father had paid more attention to the temperature gage in the van. He and the rest of his family now had to suffer with the Arizona heat because of his father's negligence.

"Look, Tay!" Zac jutted out his arm in the direction of a covered bench, "dude, I'm going over there!"

Zac jumped from his spot on the dusty ground and made his way over to the bench. After he took a seat, Zac figured out the bench was just a bus stop.

"Who would put a bus stop in the middle of nowhere?" Zac laughed to himself, "the only people out here would be people like my dad and their stranded families!"

Zac pressed the play button on the Walkman he had attached to his hip and laid down upon the bench. Zac soon fell asleep, with the hot Arizona sun shining on his face.
    
    
    *	*	*

  


Zac slept for nearly an hour before someone approached the bus stop. When the strange looking old man sat down next to his head, Zac couldn't help but stare at his huge toes.

 _That's not normal_ , Zac thought to himself.

"Good afternoon, young man." The stranger greeted him in a kind voice, "is that your family over there?"

"Uh, yes sir," Zac was shocked the stranger spoke so kindly to him, "our van's broke down. Dear ol' dad forgot to put water in the radiator before we entered the desert!"

When the old man laughed, he reminded Zac of the cartoons of Santa Claus he would watch when he was younger. After all, an 11-year-old is much too mature to watch those things _now_.

"Do you suppose they would miss you if you left for a while?" The old man had a look on his face that intrigued Zac greatly.

Zac laughed, "I've been asleep on this bench for over an hour and they haven't missed me yet. Why?"

The old man pointed to a bus that seamed to float down the road, "I want to show you where I come from. It's a beautiful planet not too far past Mars. It's too small for the earthling radar's to see it. I suppose that's a good thing. We can come visit your planet, but they can't try to take over ours."

Just as the old man finished speaking, the bus stopped in front of the bench. The old man stood up and made his way to the bus door. He turned around to face a very shocked Zac.

"Are you coming Zachary?" The old man motioned Zac to join him.

Zac cautiously boarded the bus. Everyone on the bus looked human. He followed the old man to a seat in the middle of the bus and sat down next to him. As he glanced around, Zac began to think the old man had been lying to him. Until the bus began to fly.

"What is the name of your planet?" Zac asked in a shaky tone.

A pretty young girl, near Zac's age, answered him, "Albertane. It's the most beautiful place in the whole universe. Wait…you mean you've never been there?"

"Nope," Zac laughed, "I'm a first timer!"

The little girl giggled, "where'd you find this one Grampa?"

"Where I always find them, Leienna," her grandfather told her in an old, knowing tone, "asleep on a bus stop."

"Grampa likes to bring humans to Albertane," the little girl told Zac, "he says when he shows them our home they learn what peace is, and what it means to think. Until I met my first human, I didn't know what w-w-wa-war, I think that's how you say it, anyway, I didn't know what it was. Why do humans do such awful things to each other?"

Zac was blown away. These strange people were so interested in him. The fact that the little girl didn't know what a war was nearly knocked Zac out of his seat. It took him a few minutes to answer.

"Well," he sighed, "some people say it's human nature to fight. Other's say it's because we don't know how to talk to each other. But there's no real answer. It's just one of those things humans do, I suppose."

"Oh," the girl sighed in disappointment, "well, you'll like it in Albertane. I can tell by your eyes."

Zac smiled, "I hope so."

"You can go to sleep for a little while, Zachary," the old man said, "it will be a while before we reach Albertane."

"Wait," Zac laughed from shock, "I never told you my name!"

"I know all and I see all," the old man said matter-of-factly, "no go to sleep. I'll wake you when we get there."
    
    
    *	*	*

  


"Boy, boy!" Leienna whispered as she shook Zac's shoulder, "boy wake up! We're here!"

Zac shook off his sleepiness and sat up, "we're in Albertane?"

"Yes," her voice was softer than a whisper, "come, follow me."

As Zac followed Leienna off the bus, he began to wonder where the old man was, but decided not to ask.

The moment he stepped off the bus, Zac realized why the Albertanians did not want the humans to invade their planet. Never in his dreams could Zac have imagined a place so beautiful. The only thing that came close were the posters in his sister's room of unicorns, and even those did not do this newfound place any justice.

Zac followed closely behind Leienna. She led him to a large house that resembled a small castle.

"This is my home," Leienna told him, "follow me and I'll show you where you will be staying."

"Stay?" Zac was confused, "What do you mean 'stay'? I can't stay here. They might not notice right away, but my family's going to figure out I'm missing sooner or later. I have to go back. I'm only supposed to be visiting."

"You worry too much," the girl's whispery voice echoed through the hall, "earth time is much slower than our time. You can spend exactly three days in Albertane and have only been gone for five minutes in earth time."

"Wow!" Zac continued to follow Leienna down the maze of hallways. She led him down a long hall covered in paintings and pictures of Leienna's ancestors. She then led him up a winding staircase that led to the large guestroom.

"This is where you'll be staying," Leienna opened the door to the room, "the bathroom is the door to the left of your bed, the door to the right goes into the staircase that will take you to the kitchen."

Zac was so busy gawking at the room, he had not noticed that Leienna's body hovered over his as she adjusted a painting. When she was finished, she flew in near his face and spoke, "if you nee--"

"WHOA!" Zac shouted, "are you flying?"

Leienna laughed at the naive human, "yes, I'm flying. We're not human so we can use more than ten percent of our brains and therefore make ourselves fly. As I was saying though, if you need anything press that button near the window and one of the sprites will be here to help you faster than you can blink. If you think I fly fast you should see one of them!"

"Leienna?" Zac was thoroughly stunned, "I don't have any clothes."

Leienna smiled, "go press that button. I have to go. My grandfather has some things for me to do."

Before Zac could say another word, Leienna flew out of his sight. He walked over to the button and pressed it softly.

"How can I help you, young earthling?" A small yellow sprite floated behind Zac's shoulder.

"Huh?" Zac couldn't shake the fact that there was an actual fairy behind him, "uh…I…uh…need some clothes."

The small fairy disappeared and then reappeared before he could say another word.

"I hope these are to your liking," the fairy laid a pile of new clothes on the bed, "I checked your profiles and these seemed to suit your tastes. Oh, yes, and I had to include a little fancy suit in with them. You are expected tonight at the banquet. Make sure you look your best." Then she was gone.

"I'm never going home!" Zac laughed to himself.

Zac placed the clothes that had just been brought to him neatly in the dresser. He hung up the shirts and suit before he sat down on the bed to soak in the things he had seen that day.

"Okay, let's review." He told himself, "they're not human, so they can float. Fairies are real and at you're every beck and call. Leienna is the old man's grand daughter, and he's obviously pretty important; this place is huge! You took a flying bus to this place called Albertane, and it's the physical equivalent to what Heaven must be. And you get to stay for a while 'cause the earth's rotation is slower than Albertane's. This is gonna be FUN!"

Zac gathered some clothes to change into and headed to the bathroom. He was a bit dirty from sitting in the desert dust.

"SWANK!" Zac blurt as he walked into the bathroom. A huge marble tub sat in the middle of the room atop a small set of stairs. In one corner was the shower, complete with stained glass doors. Against the wall closest to the shower was a set of elaborately decorated sinks, and next to those was a closet. Upon further investigation, Zac found the closet contained a large set of plush towels, a collection of expensive looking soaps, and several types of shampoos and conditioners.

 _Oh yeah_ , Zac thought to himself, _we are defiantly coming back here_!

Zac filled the tub with water and got in. He soaked in the water for a long while before getting out and going to the shower to wash his hair.

"Zachary," Leienna's voice called through the air, "hurry, Zachary. Don't be late. Grampa expects promptness from _everyone_ , guests are no exception."

Zac looked through the shower doors, "Leienna? Are you in here? Where are you?"

He could hear her laugh, "not only can we fly, but telecommunicate as well. Now hurry, I'll be at your door in ten minutes."

"Man!" Zac grunted, "human's got gypped in the brain department!"

Zac finished washing the shampoo from his hair before getting out of the shower. He wrapped one of the soft, white towels around his waist before walking to the mirror. He lifted the heavy, silver hairbrush from the counter and brushed out his hair. He retrieved a hair dryer from under the sink, plugged it in and began talking to himself, "I wonder if she--"

"Yes, I think you're cute!" Leienna's frantic voice came through his ears once more, "now hurry, Zachary!"

Once he finished with his hair, Zac rushed to get dressed. Just as he pulled his pants up over his hips, Leienna knocked at the door.

When he pulled the door open, Zac saw the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Leienna's emerald green eyes sparked as she smiled at him. Her deep red hair hung in ringlets around her face, setting off her eyes even further. She was dressed in a floor length, shimmery, white ball gown. To Zac she looked like an angel, a dream, something out of the bounds of his imagination.

"You're stunning!" Zac uttered.

Leienna blushed, "you're not too bad your self, Zachary." She took his hand in hers, "come, we mustn't be late."

Zac followed her without protest. She led him down a different set of stairs this time. In the new hall were pictures of angels. Zac was surprised when he saw a painting of the archangel Gabriel; it looked an awful lot like Taylor.

"He was made to look like him," Leienna had picked up in Zac's thoughts of the painting, "you're brother Taylor was purposely made to look like the archangel. It was his way of reminding the world that true beauty has more than one form and capability."

Zac's mouth hung open, "do you like know God, or something?"

Leienna smiled but said nothing as she continued to lead Zac down the stairs. Eventually, they entered another long hall that lead to the grand ballroom.

 _Heaven must look just like this_ , Zac told himself, as he was lead down a red carpet to the head of the table.

"Ah, my new friend," the old man stood from his place at the head of the table, "sit and dine with us for a while."

Zac looked at the food that lay upon the table. Everything his eyes passed seemed increasingly inciting. Zac nodded his head in acceptance of the old man's invitation, then took a seat next to Leienna.

"Can he stay, Grampa?" Leienna pleaded with the old man during dinner, "I want to keep this one. Please? I promise to take good care of him. He can even have his own set of fairies. We can give him walkie and talkie."

Upon hearing their names, the two lemon yellow fairies entered the dinning hall, "can we help you miss?"

"If he stays," Leienna begged the fairies, "will you work for him? Please? I can have new fairies. I'll need blue fairies soon anyway, as I am getting older."

"Leienna," the old man's voice boomed over Leienna's pleas, "you know better. You know he cannot stay. No human has ever lived in Albertane and as long as I rule it, which shall be forever mind you, no human ever shall. You know the rules, Leienna. His time will come and he will be back."

The old man then focused his attention on Zac, "I'm sorry you had to hear all of this. And as much as I hate to do this, I'm afraid you'll have to go home in the morning. I thought by bringing a younger human here, Leienna would learn more about humans. Instead she wants to keep you for the wrong reasons. You will return here when the time is right. Then Leienna can 'keep you' as she says, for eternity if she likes."

Zac nodded his head in complete understanding of the old man's actions. Zac soon withdrew himself from the table and returned to his room.
    
    
    *	*	*

  


"Just like earth." Zac sighed to himself when he heard the birds chirping in the window the next morning.

The knock at the door a few seconds later startled Zac, "who's there?"

"Leienna." The sadness in her voice struck a pain in Zac's heart, "can I come in?"

"Of course!" Zac shouted. He sat up as the door slowly swung open. Leienna was dressed in satin pajama's that reminded Zac of a prom dress. Leienna sat on the corner of the bed and starred at Zac before she began to speak.

"I wanted to keep you," she confessed, "because you are genuine, Zachary. You are pure of heart. There have been so few humans to come here that way. You were different. I was so happy to see that Grampa was bringing home a human my age, I just wanted to keep you. There aren't many Albertanian people around here for me to hang around with. I am the High Angeless of Albertane, meaning I'm second in line to Gabriel, and I hate it. They are afraid of every one. I only wanted a friend. But Grampa says you can come back and visit soon, I just can't keep you, and then one day you will come to stay forever. And you better believe me, Zachary, the day he says you can be an Albertanian, then you will be mine forever. I hope the earth brings you no w-w-wa-wars, or u-u-un-unrest, so when you return to me, you will be as perfect as you are now."

Leienna leaned over to Zac and pressed her lips softly against his.

"Zachary," the fairies called, "Zachary…"
    
    
    *	*	*

  


"Zachary!" Taylor shouted, "Zachary wake your lazy butt up! ZAC!"

Zac shook his head as he sat up, "huh? What? What's going on?"

Taylor shoved his brother off the bench, "let's go dude! Dad fixed the van!"

As Zac began to make his way towards the van, Isaac pulled him aside, "man, what were dreaming about?"

"I wasn't dreaming," Zac protested, "at least I don't think I was."

"Well you didn't go anywhere, that's for sure!" Isaac laughed, "me and Tay sat on the curb and watched you drool for three hours!"

Zac shook his head, "I went somewhere, I know I did. A place called Albertane. The people there use more of their brains than we do. They can make themselves float and telecommunicate. They had these yellow fairies, walkie and talkie. And it was so beautiful there, Ike! The people there are so peaceful and intelligent, most of them don't even know what war is!"

Isaac laughed at his brother, "this sounds like something you could write a song about! Com'mon, Mom and Dad are waiting on us."

Just as Zac was about to get into the van, he took one last look at the sky. Shortly passed the position of the sun, Zac could see the bus to Albertane leaving the atmosphere. On cue, Leienna's voice entered his mind, "when you have no light to guide you, and no one to walk be side you, I will come to you, Zachary. I will be with you always."


End file.
